Local Gardeners represent towns for Yorkshire in Bloom!

Horticultural enthusiasts in Dewsbury have been keen to display their fine gardens this year to the organisers of the town's entry into the Yorkshire In Bloom competition.

Batley and Dewsbury Towns' Management are the coordinators of the Batley and Dewsbury in Bloom Committees who work as a team on both towns entries into the competition. The committee includes local business people to include; Paul Clapton from office supplies company Collage Ltd, The Friends of Crow Nest Park, The Friends of Wilton Park, Environment Concern, local environmental group Kirklees Friends of the Environment, Dewsbury Chamber of Trade, Batley Rotary Club, Dewsbury Rotary Club and Services from Kirklees Council. The teams also receive support from both Batley and Dewsbury Area Committees.

Viv Edmonds from the Towns' Management team said "As part of the entry, the Yorkshire in Bloom judges told us that they were keen to see efforts by local people to create beautiful gardens which enhanced their towns as a contribution towards the entries of Batley and Dewsbury. The Dewsbury Reporter and The Batley News have publicised the Gardens In Bloom competition this year with fantastic results. The standard of entries has been extremely high and it has been very difficult to choose the winners."

The winners of the competition this year are: Small Garden Dewsbury, Trevor Hall with his immaculate borders and well manicured lawn (Trevor is an ex grounds man who knows all the secrets to keeping a lawn in pristine condition!); Medium Garden Dewsbury, David Ward who lives in Thornhill has a sloping plot which, over the years he has tamed to create a multi tiered and colourful haven for his family; Large Garden Dewsbury, Margaret Drury has a large and rambling garden in Whitely which is a complete delight to visit. Every turn reveals another interesting corner in which to relax. Margaret has a created a plot with a large variety of trees, a picturesque vegetable plot and stunning patio area which sits well within its rural surroundings. The Small Garden in Batley award went to Reece Stansfield who is just 11 years old and who spends most of his spare time redesigning his parents front garden! Since winning the competition Reece has been in demand from friends and neighbours to work on their gardens. He has even been spotted helping the Warden in Wilton Park to trim the lawn edges.

Paul Clapton, Chairman of Dewsbury In Bloom commented "I would like to thank all of the entrants for their superb efforts this year. It has been a pleasure to judge the gardens and to meet the people who have created them. I would also like to thank Whiteleys Garden Centre for their continued and generous sponsorship of this competition. The encouragement of winning a prize to spend at their store has spurred on many a would be gardener this year."

Whiteleys hosted the Award Ceremony on Sunday 26th August in their recently opened restaurant which is open seven days a week! They awarded each of the winners £100 worth of garden vouchers to spend in the store. Needless to say, after the ceremony the winners stayed a little while to browse the fine plants on offer!

Graham Stephenson, manager of Whiteleys Garden Centre said "We are pleased to be part of this project and are more than happy to encourage local people to take an interest in their gardens by our sponsorship of this event."